Episode #251 - What Was the Dreadnought Hoax?  🔗 **Source:** [Episode #251 - What Was the Dreadnought Hoax?](https://share.snipd.com/episode/e8d02aa2-c4ff-4bd9-b4e9-b25b97b3019e) ## Highlights - **Cambridge Zanzibar Hoax That Emboldened Cole** - Horace De Vere Cole and Cambridge students impersonated Zanzibari dignitaries, complete with blackface and stage costumes, and duped Cambridge's mayor into a civic tour. - They even produced a monogrammed umbrella reading "DeVee C." that linked the prank to Cole and revealed their makeup was ignored. Transcript: Sebastian Major On Thursday, March 2nd, 1905, the mayor of Cambridge, England received a very exciting telegram. The message had been sent from London's luxurious Hotel Cecil by one Henry Lucas, presumably some official from the British Foreign The telegram read, quote, to the mayor of Cambridge, The Sultan of Zanzibar will arrive today at Cambridge at 427 for a short visit. Could you arrange to show him buildings of interest and send a carriage, end quote. The mayor eagerly and politely responded in the affirmative. Cambridge was, of course, home to the world-famous university of the same name. It was not entirely unusual for foreign dignitaries to tour England's prestigious educational institutions, but this type of tour seems to have been a first for Mayor Kampkin, who Until recently had been a local pharmacist. A few hours later, a second telegram arrived informing the mayor that there had been a slight change of plans. The visitor would actually be the sultan's uncle, Prince Mukasa Ali, and the time of his arrival would be a touch later at 5.43. At the appointed time, a train from London pulled into Cambridge, where there was a carriage waiting to take the Zanzibari dignitaries to the town's guild hall to meet with the mayor. The Zanzibari prince had come to Cambridge that day with a small including the Grand Vizier, a ranking Zanzibari nobleman, and a personal servant. They also brought with them a bowler-capped Englishman who was to act as their interpreter, as the mayor was informed that unfortunately none of the dignitaries spoke or understood English. Mayor Kampkin greeted the visitors with the appropriate pomp. He presented the prince with a ceremonial guidebook of Cambridge, and the prince reciprocated with a gift of his own, the dorsal fin from the sacred shark of Zanzibar. After touring a charity bazaar in the Guild Hall, a small crowd of curious townsfolk started to follow the exotically dressed entourage. From there, the group was led to the university, where they toured King's College and Trinity College. As they passed, young scholars doffed their caps or bowed to show respect to the august foreign guests. For their part, the royals seemed impressed by Cambridge and often gestured approvingly at the buildings while speaking to one another in their native tongue. They seemed especially taken by Trinity College's Great Court, which was famous for being one of the largest enclosed courtyards in all of England. And yet, there was something about these visitors that struck at least one of the guides as odd. The five men seemed strangely at home during the tour. Around the time that the group came to the great court, one clerk muttered to the mayor, quote, these people seem to know their way about, end quote. But the tour was so brief that the mayor barely had time to find anything unusual. It was made known through the interpreter that the prince and his companions were eager to catch the 705 train back to London. And so farewells were said quickly, with a little less ceremony than might be expected, and the group hurried back to the train station. But what the mayor did not know was that this group had no intention of taking the train back to London. But they then frantically ran the length of the vehicle and stealthily exited at the far end, where hopefully they would not be noticed by the representatives from the mayor's office Who had sent them off. Now, why would they do something so strange? If the group had gone back to London, it might have caused some trouble, because all of these fellows were technically due back in their dormitories at Cambridge by 10 p.m. As you might have guessed, the Prince of Zanzibar did not actually visit Cambridge that day. The whole thing had been a hoax pulled off by a group of irreverent undergraduates. The prince, the grand vizier, the nobleman, and the Zanzibari servant were all, in fact, Cambridge students. ([Time 0:01:21](https://share.snipd.com/snip/844bfcb2-a713-439a-bb0d-7e9d21790fa9)) - **Dreadnought Hoax Aimed at Britain's Symbolic Battleship** - The Dreadnought hoax targeted HMS Dreadnought in 1910; pranksters wore blackface and posed as Abyssinian royalty to get an official tour. - Virginia Stephen (later Virginia Woolf) joined in cross-dress and beard, making the stunt famous and controversial. Transcript: Sebastian Major Five years after the prank at Cambridge, many of the same hoaxers would once again don theater costumes and blackface and claim to be African royalty, this time a delegation from the Kingdom of Abyssinia, or modern Ethiopia. But on this occasion, they weren't just trying to embarrass a small-town mayor. The target was the Royal Navy, and the goal was to gain access to the most important ship in the British fleet, the HMS Dreadnought. You could argue that the Dreadnought was more than just a ship. It was potentially the most important piece of military technology in the world. The so-called Dreadnought hoax of 1910 would go down as one of the most preposterous impersonations of the Edwardian age. This group of fake Ethiopians not only managed to gain access to Britain's most important floating weapon, they were greeted with full honors and were given an in-depth tour from an Admiral. The hoax raised troubling questions about the competency of the navy and the security of the British fleet at the time of heightened tensions with the German Empire in the lead-up to The First World War. How exactly did Horace de Vere Cole and his band of pranksters get away with this? Further, how did it come to pass that Virginia Woolf, one of the English language's most important modernist writers, found herself done up in blackface and a false beard on the deck Of the HMS Dreadnought on that fateful day? One of the most interesting things about the Dreadnought hoax is the range of emotions it has inspired. At the time, reactions ranged from outrage to panic to bemused laughs. Some found it hilarious, some found it disrespectful, others thought it was downright treasonous. Historians have been just as torn when it comes to evaluating the Dreadnought Hoax as a historical event. Was this prank an indictment of British militarism and the lunacy of the naval arms race? Was it meant to lampoon the arrogance of the Navy's officer class? Was it significant that one of the imposters was a woman in drag. And what should we make of the use of blackface and racial stereotypes? Some have argued that the racist attitudes and ignorance of the dreadnoughts' officers were being sent up. Others have said that Ethiopians were being cruelly mocked. Were the hoaxers considering any of this? Was the whole thing a weirdly personal, needlessly racist stunt orchestrated by some of England's most privileged people? Let's see if we can figure it out today on Our Fake History. Episode number 251, What Was the Dreadnought Hoax? Hello and welcome to Our Fake History. My name is Sebastian Major and this is the podcast where we explore historical myths and try to determine what's fact, what's fiction, and what is such a good story it simply must be told. Before we get going this week, I just want to remind everyone listening that an ad-free version of this podcast is available through Patreon. And available now for all patrons is the brand new extra episode on the seven wonders of the ancient world. Clocking in at a hefty two hours and 11 minutes, this new extra is like a multi-part Our Fake History series served in one meaty package. I've gotten some really wonderful messages from the patrons who all say that they've been enjoying it. One of the nicest things I've heard was from a patron who was amazed at how much he learned from the show, even though he thought he already knew a ton about the wonders. To me, that was high praise because that means that hopefully I found an original take on these amazing buildings which have been discussed for centuries. Now, patrons at all levels get access to that new extra. Support at $3 and you get access to literally dozens of patrons-only extras. Support at $5, and you get all the extras, plus an ad-free feed, a shout-out at the end of the show, and that warm, fuzzy feeling that comes with knowing that you're keeping this podcast Viable. So, if you're interested, go to patreon.com/ourfakehistory. This week, we are turning our attention to a topic that has been lingering on my to-do list for quite a long time. As longtime listeners know, I'm always hunting for stories of audacious hoaxes to share on the podcast. We've been steadily compiling a wonderful rogues gallery of imposters, con men, and humbug artists. The Dreadnought Hoax is one of those pranks that makes every list of history's greatest hoaxes. The biographer Harry Greenwall called it, quote, the greatest hoax that has ever been perpetrated in Great Britain, end quote. Richard Boston, who devoted himself to collecting famous jokes, dubbed it, quote, one of the century's greatest practical jokes, end quote. The undeniable notoriety of the event has had it on my radar for quite some time. But I've waited to explore the dreadnought hoax on this show. That's because the blackface and racial caricatures employed in Horace DeVere Cole's pranks need to be addressed thoughtfully. We should recognize at the outset that blackface performance has a long and hurtful history. In our attempt to understand this event, we shouldn't forget the harm that's been caused by blackface minstrelsy. In many ways, we're still reckoning with the legacy of this ([Time 0:11:44](https://share.snipd.com/snip/a98adc3c-ced1-48c1-8964-5b70f04244ea)) - **Scholarly Reads See Political Satire In The Prank** - Scholars have read the hoax as anti-establishment satire exposing naval ignorance, arguing blackface revealed officers' prejudices. - Interpretations range from lampooning militarism to seeing it as class-based mockery of naval authority. Transcript: Sebastian Major Now, part of the reason many have read the prank as satirical has to do with the undeniable historical significance of the dreadnought itself. The ship, originally launched in 1906, was lauded as a modern superweapon. At the time of the hoax, it was not only recognized as the most important piece of military technology anywhere in the world, but it had also come to symbolize British naval superiority And the global reach of the empire. The Dredna was more than a ship. It was a powerful totem of Edwardian confidence. Therefore, it should perhaps come as no surprise that some scholars have interpreted this prank on the dreadnought as a political statement meant to lampoon British militarism and Imperialism. The hoax has been read as a deeply anti-authoritarian stunt meant to mock Britain's rigid class structure and reverence for the armed services. It's also been seen as a type of punk rock anti-establishment gesture. For instance, the biographer Hermione Lee has seen in the incident, quote, ridicule of empire, infiltration of the nation's defenses, mockery of bureaucratic procedures, cross-dressing And sexual ambiguity, end quote. She's also argued that the reaction to the hoax, quote, served to turn the incident into the epitome of establishment pomposity versus anti-establishment satire, quote. Some scholars have even argued that the hoaxer's costumes were a subversive way to reveal the prejudices of the naval officers who were being pranked. For instance, the scholar S.P. Rosenbaum argues that the hoax was, quote, very much an anti-establishment class joke. And finally, an anti-imperialist one in which upper middle class costumed black faced gentleman and a lady speaking gibberish could uncover the preposterous ignorance of the officers And sailors of the home fleet's flagship with their unique codes of martial honor, end quote. Rosenbaum is suggesting that even though the pranksters employed blackface, the joke was firmly on the Dreadnoughts crew because they could not tell white Britons in makeup from Authentic Ethiopian people. ([Time 0:20:19](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c03ee544-8bbc-4225-90cf-37bb3d6106d5)) - **Virginia Woolf's Recollection: It Was A Dare** - Virginia Woolf later recalled a naval officer dared Cole to prank the Dreadnought, and Cole accepted purely for the challenge and notoriety. - Woolf insisted the motive was thrill-seeking, not political critique. Transcript: Sebastian Major One of our key sources for all this is Virginia Woolf herself. In 1940, she gave a talk at London's Women's Institute, where she reminisced about the hoax that was now 30 years in her past. Historians have shown that her recollection of the event was not always perfect, but her take on the prank remains essential for those seeking to understand it. She would remember that the whole thing got started when a naval officer who was good friends with her brother and Horace DeVere Cole came to them with a bit of a challenge. His ship, which Wolfe remembered as the HMS Hawk, had a good-natured rivalry going on with the Dreadnought. Now, interestingly, biographer Martin Downer thinks that Virginia Woolf may have misremembered the name of the rival ship. He thinks that unnamed naval officer who prompted the whole thing was actually Bernard Buxton, the seafaring cousin of one of the Zanzibar hoaxers, Leland Buxton. Bernard Buxton served on the HMS Indomitable, not the Hawk. Either way, there had been a bit of a prank war going on between the sailors on the Dreadnought and the sailors on a rival ship, either the Hawk or the Indomitable. According to Wolfe, this sailor, likely Bernard Buxton, came to Horace De Vere Cole and said, quote, you're a great hand at hoaxing people. Couldn't you do something to pull the leg of the dreadnought? End quote. Wolfe would remember that, quote, this was a red rag to a bull. End quote. She did not believe that Cole was trying to make any kind of political point with the Dreadnought hoax. He did it because he had been dared to, and he couldn't turn down a challenge. Or, as she put it, quote, It put him on his mettle. Anyone can hoax a policeman, but to hoax the flagship of the Channel Fleet was a very different matter. End quote. He was drawn to the prank not because he wanted to embarrass the navy or make a point about the emperor of Abyssinia or take a stand against militarism. He He was drawn to the stunt because it was challenging, risky, and would enhance his profile as England's greatest prankster. ([Time 0:33:10](https://share.snipd.com/snip/68257f8a-acf0-4d6e-8184-296a071a575a)) - **Method Behind The Dreadnought Deception** - The hoaxers copied their earlier formula: fake dignitaries, a forged telegram from a Foreign Office official, and theatrical costumes by Willie Clarkson. - They chose Abyssinians to exploit naval protocol that hosted foreign royals at sea. Transcript: Sebastian Major It was decided that they would tweak the formula that they had used in the Zanzibar hoax. It had recently been reported that a group of Chinese officials had been given a tour of the Channel fleet. This tipped the hoaxers to the fact that the Navy was giving tours of the dreadnought to foreign allies. The goal would be to get an official tour of the flagship by the ranking officers while impersonating a group of foreign dignitaries. This time, they chose to impersonate a group of Abyssinian royals. Virginia Woolf would later claim that the choice to impersonate Abyssinians stemmed from the fact that the emperor was known to be touring Europe. She recalled that earlier that year, he had been hosted by the French Navy, who had toured him through some of their Mediterranean vessels. But this seems to have been another misremembering. In 1910, the Emperor of Ethiopia, or Abyssinia, was King Menelik II, one of the country's most storied monarchs. But in that year, he was incapacitated in bed. In 1910, King Menelik did not leave Ethiopia. Virginia's brother Adrian would also misremember that the group had specifically impersonated the emperor himself, but that was not the case. They had learned from the Zanzibar hoax that it was risky to impersonate a figure who might actually make the news. Someone may have known what the real emperor of Abyssinia looked like or may have read about his declining health. They decided that pretending to be obscure but important members of the royal family presented fewer chances of discovery. In 1910, the kingdom of Abyssinia was allied with the British. The German empire was aggressively pursuing its interests in Africa at this time, and the independent Abyssinian kingdom was understood in Britain as an important strategic partner In East Africa. Cole and Stephen correctly guessed that dignitaries from that kingdom would be eagerly hosted by the navy. But one should also not count out the puerile pleasure that these guys got from doing blackface and passing off African stereotypes as the genuine article. Using racist caricatures seems to have been part of the fun for this group. The blackface made the prank more of a music hall-style farce. It would have arguably been easier for them to impersonate obscure European dignitaries, but they chose to go as Africans. From there, Horace De Vere Cole learned, likely from his inside man in the Navy, that in a few weeks on February 7th, the dreadnought was going to be at harbor near the coastal town of Weymouth. This gave him just enough time to make all the needed preparations. A group of impersonators was rounded up, but on the eve of the prank, a few unnamed people dropped out, thinking better of the risks involved with attempting to humiliate the Royal Navy. These last-minute dropouts were the reason why Virginia Stephen got involved. Apparently, Horace and Adrian were discussing the caper at Adrian's home when his sister, Virginia, interrupted the conversation and insisted that she be part of the hoax, saying, Quote, I am ready to come. I should like nothing better, end quote. Now, why was Virginia so insistent on joining this prank? Well, it's hard to say, but in her talk to the Women's Institute, she made the decision sound completely impulsive, motivated by no more than a youthful sense of adventure. After some cajoling, Horace and Adrian agreed to let Virginia take part. Those three were then joined by three other old friends, Guy Ridley, Duncan Grant, and Tony Buxton, another cousin of that seafaring Buxton who may have initiated the whole thing. It was decided that Buxton would impersonate a fictional cousin of the Abyssinian king, who they dubbed Prince Ras el-Makalin. The name was meant to echo the name of King Menelik. Virginia, Duncan Grant, and Guy Ridley were to play the emperor's Ethiopian entourage. Horace Devere Cole played the role of Herbert Shulmondeley, a fake official from the British Foreign Office sent to accompany the Abyssinian Party. Adrian Stephen was to be the group's English interpreter. On the fateful day, the group met in London at the Stephens' home in Fitzroy Square. There, they were met by the costumier Willie Clarkson, who had brought with him a trunk of hokey, oriental-style theater costumes and a group of apprentice makeup artists. They then set to work painting all the exposed skin on the would-be Abyssinians and applying dark-colored fake beards. They were decked out in colorful turbans, long robes, and crucifix necklaces for a touch of religious authenticity that was almost immediately forgotten by the hoaxers who assumed They were meant to be Muslim. ([Time 0:38:34](https://share.snipd.com/snip/843a3a11-2726-45e5-88c8-bbbc7e4057ad)) - **How The Prank Played Out On Board The Ship** - The imposters boarded HMS Dreadnought, were received with full honors, toured guns, wireless room, and washrooms, and even declined a gun salute. - Officers missed many cues: crucifixes, fake language, and a mistaken introduction as a German expert went unchallenged. Transcript: Sebastian Major When the group exited the train in the seaside town of Weymouth, they found the dreadnought's flag lieutenant, Peter Willoughby, waiting to greet them. This was the first test of their disguises, and amazingly, he was totally fooled. The group was then conveyed Quayside, where they boarded a small steamboat known as a steam launch, which took them out to where the HMS dreadnought was anchored. As they approached the flagship, the imposters noticed that the Navy had rolled out the proverbial red carpet. All the ship's officers stood at attention, wearing full-dress uniform. A band of Royal Marines greeted the party by, weirdly, playing Yankee Doodle Dandy. Then, not knowing the Abyssinian National Anthem, they launched into the National Anthem of Zanzibar, which quietly delighted Horace Cole. Virginia remembered seeing her cousin, Commander William Fisher, as soon as she boarded the Dreadnought, and was relieved when he solemnly saluted her. Clearly, he did not recognize his cousins in disguise. The group was then greeted by Admiral May, and Horace DeVere Cole proceeded to introduce each member of the party. But in the course of these introductions, DeVere Cole forgot the fake identity that they'd cooked up for Adrian Stevens' translator character. So he improvised and introduced him as Herr Kaufmann, a language expert from Germany. Now, this could have been a huge blunder. And indeed, after the fact, many of the more panicked critics of the hoax seized on this detail. Remember, tensions between Germany and Britain were building to a fever pitch at this time. The dreadnought itself was central to the mounting war fever between the two nations, and here was Devere Cole informing the admiral that an unexpected German visitor had just come Aboard. But, in the moment, if any of the British officers had any misgivings about this, they kept them to themselves. In many ways, the whole affair was a comedy of manners. The rules of decorum demanded a certain deference to one's guests. It would have been considered profoundly impolite to turn away a member of the prince's entourage at that moment. By the same token, if you were going to accuse one of these distinguished guests of being a fraud, you needed to be completely sure. Otherwise, it would be a breach of decorum so severe that it might damage the alliance between Britain and Abyssinia. In the moment, the fast-talking Horace Devere Cole, in his guise as the foreign office official, kept things moving with the Admiral. The group was then allowed to inspect the ship's honor guard. They were taken along the decks and were shown the dreadnought's enormous guns. The captain of the ship even offered to fire the weapons as a salute to the Abyssinian royalty, which the group politely declined. The state-of wireless room and then below decks. Bizarrely, they were shown the officers' bathrooms. This particularly worried Virginia Woolf, who thought that they might have been led to the washroom to have their makeup forcefully washed from their faces. But this did not happen. The Dreadnoughts officers just seemed to think that the washrooms were particularly well-appointed. At one point, the group was offered tea and refreshments in the wardroom. Now, the imposters had been warned that eating or drinking anything could have potentially ruined their disguises. So, Adrian Stephen quickly improvised the that the Abyssinians could only eat food that had been specially prepared in accordance with their religious rules. But he forgot, or perhaps never knew, that real Abyssinian royals were Christians and not Muslims. In hopes to hurry things along, he also told the Dreadnoughts officers that at sundown, the group would need to prostrate themselves towards Mecca. This could have been another disaster if anyone on board had known anything about Ethiopia, or had simply noticed that the supposed royals were all wearing large crucifixes around Their necks. But once again, one questioned a thing. In fact, Admiral May became so preoccupied with the idea that a Muslim ritual might be performed on board the dreadnought that he officially delayed sunset. Or, more specifically, he commanded the buglers not to signal the end of the day until the ship's guests were well on their way. Of course, the hoaxers were in no mood to overstay their welcome. Cole informed the officers that the prince was set on catching the six o'clock train out of Weymouth. So, polite goodbyes were made, the marine band struck up God Save the King, and the guests were once again saluted and loaded onto the steam launch, which took them back to shore. The group was then ushered back to the train station where they just made the six o'clock. Once aboard, they breathed a sigh of relief. Amazingly, they had pulled it off. ([Time 0:46:33](https://share.snipd.com/snip/82850b18-8d9f-4576-98b9-5f0b07d7c622)) - **Guilt Followed By Cole's Bragging That Broke The Pact** - After the prank the conspirators felt guilt about mocking polite naval officers and initially agreed to keep it secret. - Cole broke the pact by boasting publicly, ensuring press coverage and notoriety. Transcript: Sebastian Major What exactly had been the point of all that? In particular, Adrian Stephen would remember feeling guilty when he considered how accommodating and kind the naval officers on the ship had been. He would write that he felt conflicted about, quote, mocking, even in the friendliest spirit, such charming people, end quote. Horace Cole would admit the same in a letter to a friend, writing, quote, they were tremendously polite and nice. Couldn't have been nicer. One almost regretted the outrage on their hospitality, end quote. The pranksters had no real problem with the Navy, nor were they trying to make a point about militarism. So it was decided on the train that the conspirators should keep this particular exploit to themselves, as the consequences of it becoming public might be dire. But as we know, that was not the style of Horace De Vere Cole. ([Time 0:52:36](https://share.snipd.com/snip/96e60a87-59e8-4ade-8df5-51d9b93bace2)) - **Newspapers Exaggerated The Racist Spectacle** - The press sensationalized the hoax, inventing details like "bunga bunga" and exaggerated blackface descriptions that amplified racist caricature. - Those invented details became the lasting public memory and inspired music-hall jokes. Transcript: Sebastian Major It only took a few days for the story of the dreadnought hoax to leak to the London papers. Now, it's possible that the story was provided to the press by one of Horace Cole's clubmates, but most people think that Cole likely planted the story himself. The paper that broke the story was London's Express. Their article was headlined, Sham Abyssinian Princes Visit the Dreadnought. Soon, other articles appeared in the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror, which featured photographs of the group in full costume. Many of the myths associated with the Dreadnought hoax can be traced to the very first newspaper report about the escapade in The Express. First, The Express was very focused on the blackface of it all, but not in a critical way. The already outrageous costumes worn by the hoaxers were further exaggerated by the Express. This paper took an already racially fraught prank and somehow made it more racist. As Martin Downer has pointed out, quote, The description of the Abyssinian costumes and makeup was sensationalized and so outlandish that it could have only been written to satisfy Edwardian racial status. For instance, the article claimed that the hoaxers wore coarse minstrel-style wigs and offensive false lips. The Express also included the detail that, quote, the princes were shown everything and at every fresh sight they murmured in chorus, bunga bunga, which was interpreted to mean, isn't It lovely? End quote. Deeply unclear where the Express got the story about the imposters saying bunga bunga every time they saw something impressive on the dreadnought. None of the participants in the hoax claimed that any of them had used this ridiculous exclamation. According to Adrian and Virginia, the group had cobbled together a fake language that used Latin, Greek, and some hastily learned Swahili. None of the hoaxers knew enough about the people they were impersonating to know that Ethiopian royals spoke Amharic. While on the dreadnought, they had kept their voices low and conversed quietly in this fake language so as not to bring too much attention to it. They definitely did not shout out Bunga Bunga every time they saw something interesting. The writers at the Express seemed to have either made up Bunga Bunga or printed a rumor that had come from a source who had heard the story secondhand. But predictably, Bunga Bunga was the thing that everyone remembered from this article. It became a bit of a catchphrase for the Dreadnought hoax. Soon, children on the streets of London were yelling it at sailors or anyone they saw in a naval uniform. Admiral May himself was allegedly heckled with calls of bunga bunga while he was out walking. Inspired by music hall minstrelsy, was now itself inspiring songs and sketches being performed in London's music halls. One song performed in 1910 went, quote, when I went aboard the dreadnought ship, I looked like a costermonger. They said I was an Abyssinian prince because I shouted Bunga Bunga! End quote. For those unfamiliar, a costumonger is someone who sells things from a cart. The joke is that the costumes were cheap looking, and yet they still managed to fool the Navy. The coverage in The Express and other papers both reveled in and exaggerated the racial stereotypes which had been part of the hoax. The Express made the whole thing into an unambiguous minstrel show, complete with a catchphrase meant to mock African languages. ([Time 0:56:29](https://share.snipd.com/snip/536fdf4c-53aa-4c96-a321-f2ccffc45e73)) - **Black Voices Condemned Blackface Even Then** - Contemporary Black critics like Augustus Merriman-Labor condemned blackface; African voices opposed minstrelsy even if mainstream British papers ignored them. - The episode shows marginalized objections existed but were sidelined in 1910 coverage. Transcript: Sebastian Major She's pointed out that none of the news reports she found had anything critical to say about the hoaxer's choice to use blackface makeup. It can be easy to get the impression that in 1910, no one really had a problem with blackface. But that is not the case. Dan L. Jones reminds us that as soon as you start looking for the perspectives of black people from this period, you very quickly find critical voices. For instance, the American abolitionist Frederick Douglass had been condemning blackface minstrelsy in the pages of his newspaper The North Star since the 1840s. He was unequivocal in his belief that the practice contributed to the oppression of black people. But of course, that was in the American context. How did black people living in Edwardian England feel? Well, we can get a sense of that from the writings of Augustus Merriman Labour, one of England's first few African-born lawyers, originally from Sierra Leone. In 1909, he published a satirical book of observations about England from the perspective of an African traveler. This book was meant as a send-up of the travelogues written by Europeans about Africa, which he found to be condescending. His book used the same gawking and bewildered tone to describe sights on the streets of Edwardian London. In that book, he takes time to describe British blackface performers, and he doesn't mince his words. He writes, quote, the minstrel is the worst sinner of the lot. I wish that all these fiends and their friends, rascals who are made as the result of their profession, or who make themselves black for the purpose of their profession, shall someday Find it very black and warm with Beelzebub. End quote. Now, in case you were confused by Merriman's play on words, he was basically saying that everyone who does blackface can go to hell. The point is that in 1910, not everyone thought that blackface was harmless fun. ([Time 1:01:20](https://share.snipd.com/snip/b92b0408-19e7-4793-adde-d70f85c29bcb)) - **Admiralty Chose Damage Control Over Prosecution** - Admiral May called for prosecution citing security risks, but legal options were narrow (forged telegram only) and Admiralty dropped the case to avoid further embarrassment. - The hoaxers were shown leniency and agreed (mostly) not to speak publicly. Transcript: Sebastian Major So, I'm sure you're wondering, what were the consequences for the hoaxers? Well, they were helped by the fact that much of the British public seems to have thought that the hoax was hilarious. In fact, according to the albeit spotty recollection of Virginia Woolf, the hoax actually managed to get a big laugh in Parliament. She would remember that after seeing the stories in the papers, a member of Parliament rose in the House of Commons and asked, quote, "'whether his majesty's government were aware "'that a party of irresponsible and foolish people "'had dressed themselves up as Abyssinians "'and gone on board the dreadnought. "'There were roar of laughter. But the speaker went on to point out that it was a very serious matter. He said that it reflected upon the credit of the Navy. He said that it showed that anybody, however foolish, had only to send a forged telegram and he would take in the Admiral of the Channel Fleet. He said that we might have been German spies. He said that we had been shown secret instruments, end quote. The point was made that the whole thing represented a potentially serious security breach, especially considering that one of the hoaxers had openly pretended to be German and it Had raised no eyebrows. For his part, Admiral May was furious and loudly called for the hoaxers to be prosecuted. However, the only law that had technically been broken was the forgery of the telegram, and none of the known hoaxers had signed that fraudulent piece of correspondence. If the Navy was going to press charges, they would only be able to arrest a bit player in the prank. They were technically unable to prosecute Horace DeVere Cole or any of the pranksters who actually set foot on the dreadnought. Going after the telegram man seemed petty and counterproductive to many in the Admiralty. Now, I find it pretty incredible that the only law broken in this incident was telegram forgery, but such was the nature of British law in 1910. Eventually, much like the Zanzibar hoax, the concerned authorities decided to drop the whole thing. Admiral May was eventually convinced by other members of the Admiralty that pursuing prosecutions in the matter would only serve to keep the incident in the papers and further embarrass The Navy. ([Time 1:07:05](https://share.snipd.com/snip/2bd0f262-fb97-428d-82a3-2da79cebd35c)) - **Class Privilege Shaped The Reaction To The Hoax** - The light consequences reflect Edwardian class privilege: upper-class pranksters were tolerated for antics that would be criminalized for lower classes. - The hoax targeted elite officers by other elites, making it more jocular than subversive. Transcript: Sebastian Major The pranksters got off incredibly lightly. This speaks to the completely different culture around national security that existed before World War I. The fact that the dreadnought hoax was barely illegal tells us volumes. By 1914, with the outbreak of the Great War, this type of hoax would have been perceived very differently. Even in 1910, I can't help but think that one of the big reasons why the Dreadnought hoax was laughed off had to do with who perpetrated it. Horace De Vere Cole was firmly upper class, and in Edwardian England, that mattered. As historian Moira Marsh has pointed out, quote, in Edwardian England, upper class pranksters were allowed, even expected, to indulge in licentious play that would have been labeled Hooliganism if the perpetrators were from the lower classes. End quote. One wonders what the reaction to the hoax would have been if the hoaxers were discovered to have been working-class Britons or real African people. My suspicion is that both the Admiralty and British law enforcement may have been less indulgent. This is part of the reason why the prank was not perceived as being especially subversive or politically charged at the time. The Navy's officer class were being poked at by an aristocrat and his upper middle class compatriots. The elite Cambridge University set were making a friendly jab at the elite military set. In terms of the British class system, these folks were more or less part of the same club. ([Time 1:14:22](https://share.snipd.com/snip/7aaf6c0a-2241-486d-801f-187fead70202)) - **The Hoax Was Thrill Seeking Not Political Theater** - Sebastian Major concludes the hoax was essentially meaningless: it was thrill-seeking, racist entertainment, not coherent political satire or anti-imperialist protest. - Attempts to retroactively frame it as progressive often stem from defending Virginia Woolf's reputation. Transcript: Sebastian Major It's my opinion that the most surprising thing about the dreadnought hoax was how truly meaningless the whole thing was. This is one of those historical episodes that feels like it should mean something. I can understand why so many scholars have combed through this event looking for political or social critiques implied by the prank. The profound symbolism of the dreadnought and the loaded choice of the pranksters to dress as Ethiopian royalty combined to give this stunt the veneer of satire. But I truly believe that nothing was actually being satirized. The dreadnought was not targeted because of what it represented about British militarism, imperialism, or patriarchy. For Horace De Vere Cole, it was simply the highest tower to climb and the biggest bell to ring. Attempts by scholars to present the Dreadnought hoax as a profound anti-authoritarian piece of theater are either missing or ignoring the intentions of the pranksters themselves. I believe that the instinct to give the Dreadnought Hoax a veneer of intellectual respectability comes from a desire to defend or explain the choices of the young Virginia Woolf. I think we have to accept that as a young woman, she very impulsively got involved in a stunt that involved blackface simply for the adventure of it. I understand why some have tried to place the Dreadnought hoax within the context of her later anti-imperialist politics, but I honestly do not think it's a good fit. There's no doubting that Wolfe would go on to be a brilliant author and an important feminist thinker, but that does not mean that everything she did was necessarily well thought out Loaded with politically progressive meanings. As I said at the outset, this story is about the cavalier way that degrading stereotypes are deployed by people not giving them much thought. As much as it might be hard for some scholars to admit, Virginia Woolf was one of those people. ([Time 1:16:25](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f3301580-4313-496e-8bcf-a6885f2b445f))